New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-03-27
THE OANTERVILLE GHOST.
BY OSCAR WILDE.

b.
Ao,,ght Causervile Chase, every one told him lie
was doing q very foolish thing, as There was No
doubt at all chat the place was haunted. inoeeu'
Lord CantSr> illc himself. who was q man OF inc
strictest honor had felt IL his duty TO mention
the fact to Mr.. Otis when they came to discuss
terms H., o,,,
solves ssid Lord Cantcrville, since MY grand
aunt tho Dowager Duchess OF Bolton, was lilght'
cncd into 0 fit from which she never really re-
covered, BY two skeleton hands being placed Oh
4,cr shOdtt Is as she dr. sshs FOL dinner aiu
feel bound TO tell you, Mr.. Otis, that the ehos'
hes been seen by c;eral living members OF my
family, as well by the rector OF the pa',S, w
Rev. Augustus Dampier, who is Fellow oi Mn IN .
College, Cambridge. After the unioruh"tc w.
dent TO the Duchess none OF Our Sousc, 90, ON
would STAY with us, and Lady Cahuer'h'o ~ ~,
ru yer, little sleep at night IN consequence Oh 'he
mysterious noises that came fIom the corrioor anu
the library. ,o,,o
NV Lord, answered the minister, u Will take
the furniture and the ghost ab VALUATION
r.me Iom modern r. untry where we have Gerry
thing that money can buy; and with all our hpis
young fell WIS printing the Old World reo' ana
earring off your best actors ana pr'ma uohi'aS'
reckon that If there were such thlDg as shoS'
in Europe we'd have it at home in very shor.
time in one of our public museums or on inc roao
as show. r.
81 fear that the ghost exists said Lord Can
teryille smiling, though 1t may nave resisted the
overtures Ct your cnteIprisng lmpresarios. l' mas
been well known for three tcntutcs, sire i'el ia
fact and always makes its appearance before the
death Of any member of our family"
"Well. so does the family doctor, for that mat
ter, Lord Cantervillc. But there is no such thng'
sir as ghost, and l guess the laws of nature are
not going to be suspended for the British arlsto-
crazy
You are certainly very natural in America,
answered Lord Cantervle, who did not quite
understand Mr. Otiss last observatlon' Eahd
if you don't mind CHEST in the house, IL Is
all right. Only you must rtlncmbcr thab
warned YOU"
few weeks after this the purchase was CON
cluded. and at the close OF the season the MIN
lister and his family went down 10 Oanter, , nc
Chase. Mrs. OTIS who, as Mss Lllcrctla IL. zap
pan of West Fifty-third-st., Lad been q celcoateu
New-Yorlx belle was now q very handsome, MD
die aeed woman, ' ILL fine eyes AID Il superb pro
file. Many American ladies on leaving their native
land take to chronic i'll health, under the impress
sion that il is form of European refinement, but
Mrs. Otis had never fallen into this clror She
had O magnificent institution, and n really Won
derfu amount of ar'mal spirits Indeed III many
respects, she quite English and was an eX-
ceent example of the fact that we have really
everything in common with America nowadays,
except. of course language Her eldest son. chris
tened Washington by his parents in momen
of patriotism, which he never ceased &c
regret, was n fur-haircd, rather good locking
young man, who had qualified himself for Amcri-
can diplomacy by lCadln. til" german at TIC New
port Casino for three successive seasons and even
in London Was well Known as an excellent dancer.
Gardenias and the peerage were his only weak
ncsses, otherwise he VAS extremely sensible Miss
Nir,inia E. Otis was little girl of fifteen. 1.-the
and lovely fawn, and with fine freedom in her
large blue eyes. She q wonderful amazon.
and had once raced Did Lord Bitten on her pony
twice round the park. Winning by Il length aud II
half, just in front OF the Achilles statue to the
huee DELIGHT of the young Duke of Cheshire who
proposed for her the spot, and was sent back to
Elton that very night by his guardians, in floods of
tears After Virginia came The twins who were
usually called The Stars and Stripes" as they
were always getting swshed. They were de-
lghtful boys and the only true republicans Of the
family.
As Canterville Chase is seven miles from Ascot,
the nearest railway station, M. Otis had telc.
grapbcd for waggonette to meet them. and they
stared on their drive in high spirits. Ii was =
lovely July evening, and the air was delicate with
the scent of the pine WOODS. Now and then they
heard wo0d pigeon brO0ding over its own sweet
voice, or saw, deep in the rustlng fern, the bur-
nlsbtd breast of the pheasant Little squirrels
lveTcd NJ then from the beech trees they went
by, and the rabbits scudded away through the
brushwOod and over the messy knolls with their
white tails in the As they entered the ave
nue. If Cantcrvlllc Chase however, tie siIv br.
came suddenly overcast with clouds, a curious
stiffness seemed to hold the atmosphere, a great
flight of rocks passed silently over their heads.
and befccc they reached the house some biz drops
If rain naL fallen.
. Standing on the steps 10 receive them was an
tld woman neatly blessed in black silk with
j white cap and apron This was Mrs. Umney, the
honhckecper. whom Mrs. Otis, at Lady anter-
Niie's earnest Icluest. bad consented t. ecp On
in her former position. She made them each
low curtSey as they aghted and said In a quaint
old fashioned manner. IL bid you welcome to Can
tcrvllle Chase. Following her they passed through
tho fine Tudor hall into the library, a long, low
room, panelled in black oak. at the end of which
was large stained glass window. Here they
found ted laid out for item and after taking off
their wraps they sat down and began to look
round, while Mrs. Umney waited on them
Suddenly Mrs. Otis caught sight Of dull red
stain Oh the floor just by the fireplace, and quite
unconscious OF what it really sienifed, said TO
Mrs Umney, Il am afraid something has been
split there"
"Yes, madam replied the old housckecper in
low voice, blood has been split on that spot
How horrid.' cried Mrs. OTIS IL don't at all
rare fer blood STAINS III a sIttIiig-Ioom. Ii must
be removed at once
The old woman smiled, and answered in the same
low. mysterious voice. 1T is the blood of Dame
Eleanore dc CantcrNilc, who was murdered on
that very SPOT by her own husband Sir Simon dc
Canterv1le, in 1875. Sir Simon survived her nine
years, and disappeared suddenly under very mys-
ferrous circumstances. His holy has never beer
discovered. but his guilty spirit still hauns the
Chase The blood stain has been much admired
10y tourists and others ana cannot be reno, cl
"That is all nonsense" cried WASHINGTON Otis I.
i"PinlEcrtons Champion Stain Remover and lara
gon Detergent Will clean II up in no time and
before the terrified housellceper could interfere
he had fallen upon his knees and was rapidIv
securing the floor with a small stick of what
looked like black cosmetic. In few minutes no
trace of the blOodstain could be seen
II knew Pinkcrton would do it, he exclaimed
triumrhantly. as lie locked round at his a,lmrinp
family; but no sooner had he said these words
ulan terrible flash of lightning lit up the sombrc
room, fearful peal of thunder made them all
start to their feet, and Mrs Umney tainted
What monstrous climate.7 said the Amcri
ran Minister calmly, as he LIT a long cheroot IL
guess Tic old country is so ovcr-populated that